Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul on Monday said the government will continue legal aid services as part of its utmost effort to save the time, labour and money of litigants without depending on grants.
He remarked this at an event titled "National Conference on ADR: Role of District Legal Aid Committees in Implementing New Legislations."
"If we can use our money properly, a lot can be done. Even if we do not get a single penny as a grant, we will not stop the legal aid services as long as our term remains. And we will make arrangements so that people benefit from it even after we leave," he said.
Stating that if people don't get service properly, the law or the government's efforts will be of no value, he said, "We can do a lot by properly utilising the money and power we have. Along with legal reforms, we also need infrastructural systems, and we have the capacity for that. And we will make arrangements for legal aid in every district during the six months we are in office."
Asif Nazrul said, "If we can make legal aid easily available, then imagine how many people's problems we can solve very easily and at very low cost."
90% of people who have received legal aid services have expressed satisfaction with the verdict they got, he said.
And they are getting their problems resolved through legal aid in one-tenth the time compared to the courts, he added.
Expressing gratitude for the sincere efforts of the officials of the law ministry to make legal aid easily available, he said, "From these ideas, we started thinking about whether legal aid can be made mandatory."
The adviser pledged to ensure that two lakh cases will be served through legal aid every month by December 2026.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, Housing and Public Works Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Attorney General Asaduzzaman, European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Miller and UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liller also spoke as special guests.
Syed Azad Subhani, Executive Director of the National Legal Aid Services Organisation, delivered the welcome speech and presented the keynote paper at the event, while Law and Justice Secretary Sheikh Abu Taher delivered the closing speech.
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